Melbourne Rare Book Fair: Five Rare Books for Collectors
Franz Kafka autograph letter signed "K", Prague, December 1921, to his close friend, the physician Robert Klopstock
Highlights from the Melbourne Rare Book Fair which runs July 31 - August 2 at Wilson Hall, The University of Melbourne include:
* Jack London, typescript of South Sea story Mauki which sheds light on the brutal labour trade in which Pacific Islanders were coerced or kidnapped into indentured servitude on plantations in Australia, Fiji, and elsewhere. Offered by Archives Fine Books.
* Philip K. Dick, typescript plot outline of Fawn, Look Back, 1980, an unrealized novel with his manuscript ink corrections, published in issue number 2 of Science Fiction Eye, August 1987. Dick conceived Fawn, Look Back as a reflection of his own troubled interpersonal relationships and contrastingly successful career. Offered by Peter Harrington.
* Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Seereisen des berühmten Capitain Cook, a rare German account of Captain Cook's death, published in Tallinn in Estonia, and probably the first account of Cook's death to be published in book form. Offered by Asher Rare Books.
* Franz Kafka autograph letter signed "K", Prague, December 1921, to his close friend, the physician Robert Klopstock in which he writes about mutual friends (including Irene Bugsch who had recently been accepted by the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts), his poor health and his doctor's suggestion to join him on a trip to Czechoslovakia's Giant Mountains. Offered by Antiquariat Inlibris.
* Charles Darwin, signed autograph letter, August 8, 1850, an important letter which underscores Darwin's belief in the scientific significance of the study of Cirripedia (barnacles). Offered by KOTTE Autographs.
